


kids

by americangothic



Category: Original Work, Tomoka - Fandom
Genre: flashback central owo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 06:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12451218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americangothic/pseuds/americangothic
Summary: Jack isn't particularly fond of children.





	kids

Jack isn't particularly fond of children.

For one thing, he never had a parent to teach him how to be a parent. He had Lily, and countless scientists, but that really wasn't the same.

Also, whenever he thinks about his own childhood he's plunged into a spiral of nostalgia and emotional weakness for the rest of the day, which sucks.

Sometimes he meets Songbird around the village or talking to Dip and Butter or somewhere else. He nods at her, and quietly slips out of the room. She's probably a little intimidated by him, to be honest.

Sometimes Jack looks at Songbird and instead of seeing the girl laughing with Butter, he sees a boy sitting at a bar. 

_Jack is perched on one of the bar stools, his feet barely reaching the ground. A man walks up behind him and lingers for a moment before sliding onto the stool next to him._

_"H'llo," Jack mutters to the man, his speech slurred by alcohol. "Heya," the man responds. "How old are ya, son? Ya don't look like ya should be in here."_

_Jack turned to the man and glared at him from under his hood. "None've your b'siness."_

Other times, Jack doesn't see himself in fifteen year olds. He sees himself in nine year olds weeping for their mothers, or twenty-three year olds laughing as they pretend to spar with their friends. He sees himself in people without families and people that have made themselves families.

_The boy flicked his hood back and knelt before the queen, sinking to the floor respectfully. She gestures with her trident for him and his sister to arise. "Did you take care of the mark?" she asks coldly._

_"Yes," Lily responds. The queen nods, and dismisses them. As Jack walks out, he pretends not to notice the malnourished teen kept in the golden cage in the corner of the throne room._

It sucks, honestly. Occasionally, while the group is out fighting wolves, Jack will see someone- a child, darting behind their mother or staring at the wolves with terrified eyes- and remember how many people he killed.

And then, there are those days far in between- they're getting farther apart now- where he remembers snatches of conversations about kids.

_"Do you want kids?"_

_The question is one Jack's heard many times, and he laughs. "Oh, no way. I would probably have weird fish kids or something. Plus, raising a child is hard. I don't know jack shit about kids."_

_Alco nods along, laughing. "What about you?" Jack asks. "I dunno, man. Maybe with the right person, you know?" Alco pauses to elbow Jack in the ribs, and they both giggle. "But I think raising a farm full of space chickens would be easier."_

_"Oh, definitely," Jack responds. "Twenty space chickens beats a single child any day." He grins, leaning over onto Alco contentedly._

It's okay, though, because Jack doesn't plan on having kids. He'd probably just turn them into fish or something.

**Author's Note:**

> jalco angst? in my fic? its more likely than you think


End file.
